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carto0ncritter · 1 month ago

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I'm sorry but I genuinely can't understand how people can look at Stolitz and Catradora and think these ships are healthy in any way, shape or form.

Stolas r*ped Blitzø. No, consent given in a life-or-death situation doesn't count

Stolas is racist towards imps, and this didn't change even when he "fell in love" with Blitzø

Stolas doesn't appreciate or respect Moxxie and Millie in the slightest (and was disappointed that his "Prince Charming" wasn't the one to rescue him)

He looks down on Blitzø and calls him things like "impish little plaything" and "his big dicked Blitzy" and doesn't stop treating him like shit even when Blitzø says loud and clear that he hates being talked down on like this (DUH)

The only thing Stolas knows about Blitzø is that he hates books and the only thing Blitzø knows about Stolas is that he's a boring bookworm. Keep in mind, the two figured this out about each other while they were kids, 25 YEARS AGO, after Blitzø was bought so that he could be Stolas' "friend" for ONE DAY

Stolas doesn't love Blitzø for Blitzø. Stolas loves the *idea* of Blitzø. The bird man wants to live a romance that is just like the romances in his cheesy novels. He wants to ride into the sunset with his one true love. He wants grand romantic gestures. He wants his "Prince Charming". Except, Blitzø isn't the type of guy for such sappy displays of affection, he never was. Especially combined with his trauma. And as soon as that other imp guy asked him to dance, Stolas not only accepted the offer, but Blitzø was no longer on his mind. And no, I don't think being drunk is proof that Stolas didn't mean what he had told Blitzø. Drunk people find it easier to say what's really on their mind after all

Blitzø fell in love with his abuser. This makes sense, actually. The guy always pushed everyone away and never got to experience true love, and now that he has the chance to be "wanted," even if the "relationship" is toxic, he finds it hard to let it go

As for Catradora, the things I wanna say about this ship have already been said throughout the years, but it all boils down to these things:

Catra mentally, emotionally and physically abused Adora

Catra had no problem ending the whole entire universe if it meant she'd finally be better than Adora

Catra was a war criminal and a fascist

Catra was responsible for what happened to Glimmer's mom and never apologized, let alone faced consequences

Their relationship was toxic even when they were kids

They were both raised by Shadow Weaver and were the only ones in the Horde who saw her as a mother figure, thus making the ship straight up incest, with even the official source material calling them sisters (adoptive siblings ARE REAL SIBLINGS!!!)

Catra got exactly what she wanted in the end (the girl she's always been obsessed with and dependent on) and, once again, faced 0 consequences for her actions

The show (and C//A stans) fetishizes abuse. As a SA survivor, I felt physically sick during the final episode, where the abuser ends up with her victim/sister and they kiss

In short, these ships are disgusting and the lgbt community deserves better representation

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coolname-ver3 · 2 months ago

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(cw: canonical mention of child abuse)

People will see that moment in Tanetane Island where the Flint hallucination threatens Lucas to beat him, and interpret it as Flint literally being a physically abusive father, but to me there's always been something a bit more subtle to it.

Because nowhere in the game has Flint ever actually been shown to be the type to be violent towards his children. At the start he's characterized as a stoic but reliable father, later on he's desperate and absent, but never violent towards his family. The only point in the story where we know Lucas has actually witnessed his father's violent side, the only time he would have seen him as an actual threat, is the campfire scene way back in chapter 1, where Flint completely loses control and starts blindly attacking people. A villager even comments on this, trying to reason with Flint (and failing) by reminding him his children are watching him.

Something like that can be terrifying for a child to witness, especially for a sensitive kid like Lucas, especially right after the loss of his mother. The one who's supposed to guide and protect him in that moment of need has not only completely lost control, but looks like a genuine threat to him.

That scene imo, like others in tanetane Island, isn't really meant to be taken at face value, but it's simply the representation of something that haunts Lucas. It's the mix of the survivors guilt that's all over Lucas' tanetane events, and the memory of his father at his most terrifying, the reminder of one of the moments that marked the end of his safe and happy childhood.

#Arguably the campfire breakdown left a big impact on Claus too but that's something for another post I feel #I am so normal about this game you have no idea #Mother 3 #/ child abuse mention #lucas mother 3 #flint mother 3 #ngl I feel like I could have explained some points better but it's late and I just need to get this out there #just talking

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winns-stuff · 1 year ago

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LO RANT:

TRIGGER WARNING: SA

Okay I’m back again and it’s only to say this.. The comments on the new fastpass are genuinely disgusting. I don’t care how you put it or feel about both characters it’s absolutely deranged to ship or want a redemption arc for a rapist, maybe I’m being too harsh but I can’t find soft words to use for this. The fact that there’s so many people girlbossing this entire situation as a “I got the entire lineage on my shoulders!!! I slept with the brothers and the father!!!!” thing is weird to me because these fans are all missing the point of Hera’s entire story and it makes no sense that as I’m ALWAYS saying these fans are quite literally shipping rapists with their victims when the entire point of Lore Olympus was to shed light and bring awareness to Sexual Assault that is not violent or gruesome in physical action.

And we all know why this is happening, Rachel doesn’t know how to properly handle this situation and it’s clear that that’s how this is coming across to her fans. They don’t see this as a rape survivor story they see this as another dark romance since she doesn’t bother on actually addressing the assault in a respectful and dignified way, every single time she adds another sexual assault in her story she’s always glamorizing it or diminishing it whenever she gets tired of writing about it and it’s infuriating. Your fans should know better than to ship victims with their abusers and you wanna know why? Because you pride your comic on healthy relationships and mental health talks, you use the sexual assault as some kind of badge to show everyone that you know what you’re talking about when it’s clear that you will abandon all real representation of a situation that affects millions of people around the world just for crappy fan service.

Lore Olympus fans are groomed to dismiss these arcs since they’re not even treated like they’re serious and it doesn’t seem like Rachel takes it serious as well, she’s never taken any advice from survivors who aren’t pleased with how she portrays SA and she completely ignores the feelings of those truly affected by the traumatic events that she shoves into her webcomic just so it’ll stay “interesting”. I’m tired of Rachel getting away with drawing absolute trauma porn and I’m sick of her sexualizing every single woman we come across, how many times do we have to continue this long and excruciating pattern of giving the women of your comic terrible consequences and make them suffer just for drama and nothing else. How many other situations are you willing to completely spit on just to look self aware?

This is honestly the last straw because there’s been so many people genuinely shipping Hera and Kronos and also saying borderline disgusting things just to defend stuff like that. Rachel needs to say something, you cannot just sit back and be quiet while your fans openly admit to wanting to see a rapist and his victim together for the sake of your own comic and “beloved” main character hell even for a lot of your fans you need to speak up about this and address it letting a mindset like that fester in a fandom probably filled with survivors of assault is a disservice to them and it’s a slap in the face to the comfort that your webtoon gave them.

#lo critical #anti lore olympus #anti lo #lore olympus criticism #lore olympus critical #antiloreolympus

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bbcphile · 11 months ago

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Mysterious Lotus Casebook and Complex PTSD Representations: Part I

One of my favorite things about Mysterious Lotus Casebook is how surprisingly nuanced and unusual its portrayal of complex PTSD is. So many shows either introduce character trauma to make the character Sad and Brooding, Angry and Violent (if they’re a villain) or Hesitant to Start a Relationship (if it’s a romance), and that’s usually as in-depth as it gets. If they address the unique after effects of child abuse that lead to complex PTSD at all, it’s usually either explain why a character is a homicidal monster (which is all sorts of problematic) or it’s limited to a single phobia, which can be overcome by the Power of Love, or it’s just something that crops up occasionally for Plot and then forgotten about the rest of the time.

Mysterious Lotus Casebook gives us two deeply traumatized characters–Li Lianhua and Di Feisheng–who each have clear symptoms of complex PTSD, and yet, their cPTSD manifests completely differently because of the types of traumas that caused it and their relationships to the people causing the traumas. And their manifestations of cPTSD affect just about every level of their being, including their sense of self, their decision-making, and their relationships with others, and it includes some of the incredibly important manifestations of cPTSD that are almost never shown in media while avoiding the most insulting stereotypes!

PTSD vs cPTSD

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is an anxiety disorder caused by experiencing a single (or short lived) traumatic event (an accident, assault, medical emergency, fighting in a war, etc), where the symptoms last for longer than a month. Symptoms include things like reexperiencing the event (flashbacks), avoidance (of things related to the event), changes in mood (depression, anger, fear, etc), and issues with emotional regulation (hypervigilance–being constantly on the lookout for threats–irritability/angry outbursts, etc.).

Complex PTSD happens if someone has experienced long term, chronic/repeated trauma that induces hopelessness and no chance of escape (survivors of extended child abuse, human trafficking, domestic violence, prisoners of war, slavery, etc.). It’s also often interpersonal in ways a car crash or medical emergency is not, and is particularly linked with chronic trauma during childhood: chronic stress hormones introduce literal physical changes in a growing brain, particularly the amygdala (which processes fear), hippocampus (which is responsible for learning/memory), and the prefrontal cortex (which is responsible for executive function), so it can affect every aspect of life and also affect a child’s progression through developmental stages. In addition to these physical changes to the brain, the prolonged trauma–particularly the helplessness–distorts a child’s sense of self, the perpetrator, and the world in ways that alter their decision making, their memory, and their future relationships.

For instance, whereas a traumatic event that caused PTSD might make you depressed or not trust the person who harmed you (or to fear driving), the trauma from cPTSD might make you suicidal, blame yourself for your victimization, decide to isolate to avoid interpersonal relationships to keep from getting hurt, or become obsessed with never being harmed again.

Basically, cPTSD has the core symptoms from PTSD with some extra challenges, including issues with emotional regulation, self-concept, interruptions in consciousness, difficulties with relationships, perceptions of the perpetrator, and systems of meaning.

DFS and LLH: CPTSD Symptoms

There’s so much more to say about this than I can cover in this superficial introduction, so this will be the first of a series of metas; I’m hoping to go into more depth about some of these categories in future posts (the DFS and emotional regulation/violence one is already drafted, so stay tuned).

Difficulties with Relationships (problems with trust, communication, missing red flags): Both DFS and LLH have a history of trusting the wrong people and not trusting the right people, both in the past and in the present of the show: in the past, LLH missed the fact that SGD hated him and DFS missed the fact that JLQ was obsessed with him, and as a result, both sects were destroyed, many people died, and the two almost destroyed each other. If they had communicated with each other instead of fighting at the donghai battle, they might have realized they were being set up and could have worked together, but their difficulties with trust after perceived betrayal made that impossible for them. They both have a history of overlooking red flags in the present–DFS in particular, keeping the red-flag-personified-JLQ around despite her history of poisoning people, including himself–and they both tend to struggle with relationships in the present: LLH runs away from and/or drugs the people who care about him, and DFS sends endless mixed messages by not telling Li Lianhua most of his plans to help him.

Self-Concept (Self-hatred and self-fragmentation): Li Lianhua is basically the poster child for having a negative self concept: he has an overdeveloped sense of self-blame and responsibility, even believing he deserves to die for leading his men to their deaths, and once he learns he was manipulated and SGD was behind it all, he seems to think it’s his own fault that he was manipulated, lied to, and abused. His self-loathing is so extreme that he imagines his earlier self, Li Xiangyi, to have died, and tries as much as possible to be nothing like that earlier persona. His repeated insistence that Li Xiangyi and Li Lianhua are NOT the same person is reminiscent of the fragmentary sense of self that comes with more extreme trauma, like Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) or Other-Specified Dissociative Disorder (OSDD), where traumatic experiences are so painful that people form different alters, or differentiated self-states, that can have different names and skills and memories and identities.

Di Feisheng doesn’t have the self-hatred or guilt that LLH does, and it seems like he tries to skip over questions of self worth, blame, or hatred by focusing exclusively on staying true to his code of ethics he’s developed for himself and focusing on gaining the strength necessary to fight for his freedom from mind control and the Di Fortress. But even though he’s kept his Di name, kept his goals the same since escaping Di Fortress, and hasn’t tried to separate himself from his trauma the way LLH did with LXY, he’s even more willing than LLH to take on different identities: it’s literally one of his martial arts skills. The Bone Constriction Skill lets him become someone else for a time, whether that’s a child or Shi Hun. It fits well with his willingness to be whoever he needs to be to accomplish his goals: he’s perfectly willing to be seen as a heartless villain if it lets him protect LLH, and he’s willing to flirt with and pretend to be jealous of JLQ to get information from her, and he’s willing to be LLH’s a-Fei, both with and without his memories.

Interruptions in Consciousness (Amnesia and nightmares for Everyone): LLH and DFS both have nightmares and flashbacks/memories of traumatic events, and as mentioned above, both have interesting hints of having fragmented/fluid senses of self. They both also dissociate, or separate themselves from the present when dealing with traumatic things: LLH spaces out and gets stuck in his past memories about SGD when talking to FDB after burying SGD, and DFS dissociates from physical pain so as not to make noise both after he’s been stabbed and poisoned with Wuxin Huai and again when JLQ is torturing him in her water dungeon.

They both also have dissociative amnesia that takes away trauma memories, although one is from a poisonous incense plus the magic of qi macgyvering: LLH forgot the existence of his older brother who died in front of him, and DFS as a-Fei had just about all of his memories (except a few of killing as a child) taken away. Amnesia is a huge part of cPTSD, because it’s the brain’s way of trying to protect you from truths that you might not survive. It can manifest as blocking out one single traumatic event, a bunch of thematically or temporally linked traumatic events, a skill set related to the trauma, or, in the case of something like DID or OSDD, just about everything. It’s endlessly fascinating to me that the show gives us one example of definite traumatic amnesia through LLH, and then seems to almost transform the experience of having DID and being a new part and finding yourself with a new name and very little else into an exaggerated fantasy setting (interestingly, people often report experiencing debilitating headaches when they try to regain memories behind the amnesia barrier). I doubt this is what they were actually going for, since DID is almost universally portrayed incorrectly and offensively in media (one of the alters is almost always portrayed as a serial killer, but that’s a rant for another day), but the different names and the presence of amnesia with LLH made it a fascinating enough parallel that I had to mention it.

Problems with Emotional Regulation (Lashing in vs. lashing out): Li Xiangyi and Di Feisheng are polar opposites when it comes to struggles with emotional regulation: whereas LXY turns his anger inward, directing it all toward self-hate in what’s often called a “toxic shame spiral,” both after the donghai battle and after he finds out about SGD’s role in his shifu’s death, DFS lashes out physically at those who have harmed him, usually via choking people, although he is usually exerting an impressive amount of control over his emotions and strength. To put in perspective just how different their emotional strategies are and how much effort DFS puts into emotional regulation, compare how much more calm he is than LLH during any revelation of past betrayal or painful information, any scene where they confront the people who have abused them, or any scene where they learn they’ve been wrong about something big; LLH is most likely having an emotional flashback (re-experiencing the emotions from the earlier traumas) and DFS is probably compartmentalizing them or dissociating from them to process later/never so he can stay semi-functional and not show a potential opponent a weak spot.

NOTE: This means that DFS is loooong overdue for a very dramatic breakdown when it eventually all catches up to him and he can’t distract himself from it anymore.

Perceptions of Perpetrators: In this way only, Di Feisheng has one advantage: he knows the head of Di Fortress is a cruel, abusive tyrant. While he clearly still fears him, even as a physically strong adult (he has nightmares, flashbacks, and dedicates his life to being free from him, which means he still to some extent feels young, small, and helpless when he thinks of him), DFS knows that he hates him and wants to be free of him. This is probably part of why he’s spared some of the self-hatred LLH experiences: he knows he didn’t deserve the abuse because seeing it happen to other children means he knows the abuse wasn’t a personal reflection on him. It does, however, motivate him to want to be stronger and invulnerable so as to never be helpless again, and that obsession is what drives him to have a single-minded focus on reaching the pinnacle of the jianghu.

It’s so much more complicated for Li Lianhua (and for a more detailed analysis, check out this meta): the childhood perpetrators were manifold–a slew of bandits, whichever children and adults on the street would abuse him for existing and being poor–it probably felt like life itself was to blame. It’s no wonder that when his shifu and shiniang took him in, they were the ultimate rescuers whom he hero-worshipped, so when he felt he made a mistake and his life fell apart, he blamed himself: at least there would be someone to blame that way and something he could do about it (try to kill his past self and hate everything about him). It’s also very telling that LLH doesn’t blame JLQ or YBQ all that much when he learns they poisoned him, and that he’s more angry that SGD murdered their shifu than he is that SGD set him up, hated him, and was the real mastermind behind everything he had blamed himself for; he struggles to stay angry at people who harm him, and would rather blame and hate himself for being tricked than hate the person who tricked him. So, whereas DFS tries to destroy the people who abused him, LLH tries to destroy himself.

If you read this far, thanks! I’m probably going to be posting the DFS and emotional regulation/violence against perpetrator meta next, because it’s drafted, but if there are any of these you desperately want me to talk about more sooner rather than later, let me know! :D

#mysterious lotus casebook #mlc meta #di feisheng #li lianhua #Li Xiangyi #complex PTSD #child abuse #sorry it's so long! This is the short version #The original version was 2700 words #dissociation #trauma #I am so here for non-monolithic representations of mental illnesses #PTSD #In case you can't tell I am very invested in depictions of PTSD and cPTSD #I'm always up for talking about fictional portrayals of trauma #so feel free to message if you have questions about any of this and don't want it to be in the notes for some reason

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autistichalsin · 1 year ago

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Imagine seeing a character who is the ultimate subversion of the "wise mentor" trope, who needs as much from you as you do from him, who grows as a person in your presence, who reveals that everything about the wise mentor role was forced on him, not something he ever wanted, that it was making him miserable to the point he was forgetting who he truly was, to the point that the happiest you see him is when he does a complete 180 from anything that can be described as a wise mentor.

Imagine that this character constantly hints at having a HUGE problem with people telling him what he can and can not be, by virtue of their preconceived notions of him, which are more often than not entirely false (based only on his size and/or most superficial aspects of his outward personality), to the point that he is self-conscious admitting what his favorite food is because he's so used to being judge for how it fits his appearance.

Imagine that this character constantly lives, breathes, eats the entire concept of consent, telling you that he is proud of having rejected unwanted advances, even if it earned him scars, because bodily autonomy is that important to him. Imagine that this character immediately empathizes with a survivor of assault, telling him in earnest that he is amazed, because many in that position are never able to enjoy intimacy again.

Then imagine listening to that character open up that they were enslaved for three years, their body used by someone smaller and weaker than themself, with the constant threat of death keeping them from revolting. Imagine this character all but saying they have trauma bonds, and struggle to balance their trauma with the internal voice telling them they should be grateful they weren't killed and that they were able to get physical pleasure- as many rape victims struggle with, thinking that arousal or an orgasm is a sign they were asking for it. Imagine this character telling you this while they, unlike the other rape survivor character, is not who people think of when they think of rape survivors, but still, he trusts you with this information.

Then imagine scoffing and going "this wise old Druid? How could he be so weak as to have been sexually abused? This is disgusting and needs to be removed from the plot. Our character is BETTER than being a rape victim. If fans want representation, they could go look at this other character who fits the exact image people have in their head when they think of rape victims" without an ounce of self-reflection.

Sure is great that our fandom is beyond such judgment of survivors, knowing that in a story where every single character has had their bodily autonomy violated, it would be foolish to blame this particular character for what happened to th-

Oh.

#halsin #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #halsin silverbough

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bougiebutchbinch · 1 year ago

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This is your daily reminder that anyone can criticise your favourite show. And disabled people, queer people, mentally ill people, and people from any other minority group are always allowed to criticise representation within your favourite show.

Obviously, a few people from the same minority group will disagree with this criticism. Everyone's gonna have a different opinion - that's great.

But that does not in any way invalidate the original criticism, especially when it's coming from so many people with visible mobility disabilities, survivors of suicide and abuse, and queer people.

That doesn't mean critics think the show is evil and should be destroyed forever. It doesn't mean they think that the show isn't good representation for you, with your specific intersection of representation needs, or that you can't enjoy it - or that you are a bad person for enjoying it.

Critics are allowed to stop supporting the show for future seasons because they dislike the representation, or the writing, or for any other reason. If you are sending anons over something so minimal as someone no longer wanting another season of your favourite show, then, frankly, I suspect you are a literal child. But also, you have a weird cultish relationship with this fandom and should probably step back.

Hell, I'm gonna try and step back, for the sake of my own mental health. I always wind up getting at least one weird anon per fandom, as I am Loud And AnnoyingTM - to the point where I see it as a bit of a badge of pride. Means I'm part of the fandom now, if I'm in deep enough - and noisy enough - to get nonsense. That doesn't particularly bother me.

But I cannot deal with the constant frustration of seeing fellow fans not understanding the very basic concept of 'a stranger on the internet can love this show, but still be disappointed in it and criticise it, and that is not an attack on me, personally'.

I encourage you to love the show! I love that you love it! I still somewhat love it, and I certainly love to criticise it! Criticism is just another form of interaction with a piece of media, and one that is integral to any fandom! It's not a threat to you or your appreciation of the show!

What becomes problematic is when you mock criticism, especially when it's coming from a whole bunch of marginalised voices.

Why are you being so aggressive about decrying everyone who complains as 'overemotional' and 'hysterical'? Why are you trying so hard to minimise and misinterpret the opinions of visibly physically disabled people who have struggled a lot with their disability, when invisible disability rep and casual positive disability rep are no less important but entirely different sorts of representation?

If you disagree, maybe just have some empathy and let marginalised people speak? Why are you so determined to die on the hill of defending a TV show from any and all criticism?

Which is all to say:

Your fandom is not exempt from criticism. Yes, you are still allowed to love your blorbos and your show. This is pretty fucking basic Fandom 101.

#ofmd #our flag means death #izzy hands #ed teach #stede bonnet #ofmd meta #blackbeard #the edcourse #the izcourse #sigh. me every day: I'm gonna step away from this nonsense for real now #but now I feel the anger has moved into just... frustration #gentlebeard #blackbonnet #steddyhands #do people really not understand this in the year 2023??

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afuckingsystemsthoughts · 6 months ago

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i know I'm gonna get some hate for this, but it needs to be said.

hazbin hotel is problematic. the creator is problematic. the creator romanticizes sexual abuse in the show, along with sexual violence in general. it's also offensive to Christians, which, I'm not a big fan of Christianity, but I also won't offend their religion because that would be anti-theist and that's not good; we should respect all beliefs and religions (that are not cults, harmful or toxic.) i say this as a sexual abuse survivor myself- sexual abuse and sexual violence are not funny or entertaining. and if you fetishize sexual violence, you are not a person with a harmless kink. you are a paraphile, which makes you radqueer, which makes you a part of the community that mocks peoples races, trauma, physical and mental disorders, and normalizes pedophilia and zoophilia. including that in your shows and doing that alone speaks for who you are.

and ofc, the DID fakers and endos are gonna pretend they have hazbin hotel alters. every sys server I've been in has at least one system with an angel dust alter, he seems to be the most common, but there's others too, and id believe the systems who say they have hazbin hotel introjects, if it wasn't for every system we've seen with a hazbin hotel introject also has a fuck ton of other introjects from other media used by admitted and obvious fakers. I can accept fictives from toxic sources, because fictives aren't their source, just the brains representation and internalization of the source- but so many fakers following a dumb trend have these hazbin hotel introjects, that it makes me paranoid around system spaces and just... people who say they have DID/OSDD in general. and the fakers are following the trend using toxic media like hazbin hotel, which makes it worse because of how toxic the show and creator are. it shows that fakers truly do fetishize us and our trauma.

#actually dissociative #dissociative identity disorder #osddid #syscourse #anti radqueer #anti map #anti endo #endos dni #endos fuck off #anti vivziepop #anti hazbin hotel

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fishhuh · 1 year ago

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What feels most insulting about being told that Izzys death made sense or was an appropriate end to his arc is the fact that it essentially disregards every reason we are upset about how his character was portrayed and sums it up to us just being upset that our favorite character died.

Because it's not that. I mean yeah, we are upset he died, but specifically it's not only how he died, but how the show handled it. Izzy was not just some lovesick puppy pining for Ed, and he was not some hard ass asshole forcing Ed to do the things he did. He was a survivor. A survivor of Ed's abuse, of betrayal, of love that morphed into a desperate attachment to a man who gave him so little when Izzy was the very thing keeping his world still spinning.

Izzy was important to people because of this, and so much more. He represented healing, self acceptance, growth, love. To see a character who was beaten down and thrown away for so long get to see a glimpse of what it was like to actually be his own person, to be cared about and see family in someone who didn't hurt him, only for him to be killed by something that every other character in the show never would have been killed from. Every other character time and time again got to survive what would have logically killed them, and yet Izzy dies from being shot in a scene you only see for a few seconds. Because it's clear to me that the whole time, he was always meant to die. And that's the problem.

The way Izzy's place is Ed's life was written almost paints him as being at fault for his abuse. He tells Ed he "fed his darkness" as if that puts him at fault for Ed literally physically abusing and mutilating him. He is treated as nothing more than a plot device to further Ed's path to happiness. A survivor of abuse dies so his abuser can move forward and heal. Izzy sits rotting in the dirt under the very home Ed gives Stede the love Izzy so desperately wanted.

I also think boiling Izzy's character down to him having an unrequited love for Edward brushes over the reason Ed is so important to him. Izzy forged his entire self around Blackbeard. He was nothing without him. He loved him and saw him as family and Edward didn't give him the time of day. He sacrificed so much of himself so Blackbeard could thrive, and what did he get in return? When Izzy realized he saw the crew as family, that was a very big moment for his character. He finally realizes that he is loved. And then at his funeral, we get all these reactions to his death from the crew that are just so out of character. The whole season was about how the crew was becoming accepting and loving of izzy and literally protecting him and then when he dies they just, what go off and seemingly forget about him?

Izzy deserved better. And we aren't mad because he died, we are mad because such an important piece of representation for so many people was so blatantly thrown away and disrespected.

#ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd s2 #ofmd season 2 #ofmd spoilers #izzy hands #con o'neill #edward teach #blackbeard #taika waititi #my posts #izzy deserved better

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that-left-turn · 2 months ago

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Do you think they were just trying to change the audience from Carol (and Daryl) fans and bring in a bigger male audience instead? If it is this, what do you think will happen in terms of the show's success?

There are some showrunners who feel like they 'deserve' a certain kind of audience or that their writing is aimed at a specific type of viewer. (Invariable young, straight, white male from a middle class background.) If the actual demographics of the audience don't match, some of those showrunners essentially self-sabotage by trying to change the elements of the show that appeal to their viewership. I don't know that Zabel is that guy because he doesn't write procedural crime or (supernatural) action adventure—physical plotting is a particular weak spot of his and it makes him unsuited to write for TWDU (as envisioned by Gimple) because it focuses on action over character. I assume that's why Keith Staskiewicz was a new addition for TBOC; he doesn't have much experience, but he's written for Dead City, which is an action packed show written by dudebros for dudebros.

There seems to be a tug of war going on about what the tone of TWD Caryl should be, between Norman who wants an artsy exploration of the human condition (more in line with what we saw in S2 of the flagship show) and Gimple who prefers gore and grimes. The horror genre covers a lot of ground, so both of those options are valid choices, but they can't coexist in the same show. Either you aim for more psychological horror (not really what Zabel writes, but I suspect it's what Norman would like even if he doesn't know how to articulate it) or gore with its shock-value violence and novelty zombies. The latter works for Negan, but not for a Carol and Daryl spinoff. They're abuse survivors and the focus should be on psychological terror rather than grossing out the audience.

I think some execs at AMC thought that S1 didn't do well because the plot lacked action and excitement. They expected Daryl to bring in lots of (young male) viewers and the course correction for TBOC was to have him be a more traditional action hero who kills things and kisses inappropriate women. Throw in Carol as the Ripley/Connor stand-in and every gimmick in the "TV Book of Tricks," from riding a motorcycle and a white horse to shooting the crossbow and killing with gardening tools, and surely that big male-skewing audience will show up.

There are primarily two kinds of TWDU viewers:

those who watch for character(s) and/or ships

those who are interested in the mythology of the setting

The external plot of TBOC is incredibly weak:

The religious-political conflict goes nowhere, it's just a lot of characters spouting their life philosophy

nothing is done to move the needle on the walkers/virus

even the story engine, Daryl's quest to get home, doesn't drive the action but is instead in doubt (biggest no-no in TV writing)

The TWD Caryl characters are all stock characters:

the noble soldier driven to his own downfall by his misguided need for revenge

the villain whose lack of control and agency turned her into a power hungry monster and in the end, an actual monster

the madonna-whore representation doomed to be a plot device because she exists solely to service the arcs of the male characters

Carol and Daryl's dynamic is off-kilter and the latter has been turned into a Clint Eastwood lone ranger type of man

TBOC isn't giving anyone anything they enjoy, but it was an attempt at catering to a male skewing audience. I'm not sure what TPTB will do with S3 because, like I said, there are very distinct schools of thought on how to 'fix' the problems.

There was a production stop after the scenes set in the UK and the storm at seas were shot, so chances are, there were rewrites in response to the poor reception of TBOC. Any downtime once you've started principal photography is extremely costly, so it's only done when there's a legal obligation, like for an on-set death or if there's a showstopping emergency, like major last-minute revisions. Anything else, the production team tries to shoot around, so there won't be any delay. If you shoot on location, you have to house and feed everyone in addition to the costs of producing the show, so it gets very, very expensive if you don't wrap on time.

TWD Caryl won't be successful if the writing doesn't improve. A good showrunner puts the story first—there's always noise coming from all ends which has to be shut down or redirected. If the nunmance was Norman's idea, Zabel should've nixed it because it's literally his job to control the talent. If it was his own idea, how much hope should we hold that he's learned how to plot better in the last few months? Can Zabel and Richman, who don't write three dimensional women and haven't watched the flagship show, write a complex emotional arc for two traumatized abuse survivors?

My questions to anyone who's still reading this long post:

Do you think Zabel could write a romance you'd find satisfying?

If it's lackluster, would you still watch the show, find contentment in "at least there's finally canon"?

Would it be an okay tradeoff if Caryl's characterization is altered to accommodate Zabel's vision for canon?

Do you trust him not to refrigerate Carol?

#twd caryl #amc marketing #tv production #screenwriting #caryl #twd spoilers

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caramel-ribbons · 2 years ago

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Huntlow is such a great dynamic. Like, they don’t have the pacing and icon status of Lumity or the history and angst of Raeda, but what they share in common with all these ships is their payoff.

Huntlow pays tribute to the character development of both Hunter and Willow in a way no other relationship in the Owl House does. When Luz and Amity meet, they’re still flawed. Luz is still oblivious and naive. Amity is still perfectionistic and cruel. They spend so much time together, recognizing their own shortcomings as well as each others, and this acknowledgment of who they used to be and who they became through each other, is the foundation of their relationship. Luz learns to accept herself and be vulnerable and Amity learns to express herself, quirks and all, and accept unconditional love from another person.

Raeda is, in many ways, the perfect relationship dynamic. Two characters who’ve been together for so long, they know the other better than they know themselves. They have all these memories from when they were kids, and despite experiencing so many ups and downs in their relationship, they still care for each other. Even after Raine breaks up with Eda and begins distancing themselves from Eda during season 2B, Eda still knows how much Raine cares for her. They know each other on a deeper level than most ever will.

But Huntlow? They didn’t meet the other when they were at their lowest. Willow didn’t meet Hunter when he was the Golden Guard, and Hunter didn’t meet Willow when she was “half-a-witch”. They only know each other for who they are now, not the labels people projected onto them or the expectations assigned to them.

Hunter was forced to be stoic and strong, but around Willow, he can be awkward. He can be sweet. Willow became shy and insecure because she was bullied for her abomination magic. But now, she’s a plant witch, an athlete. One of the best plant witches, actually, as well as the captain of a sports team she created. Hunter has only ever know Willow for her strength, her fortitude, and her self-assurance.

Thankfully, this part of the fandom has shrunk considerably, in fact, it was never big to begin with, but I do still see people who dislike Huntlow because they feel it’s rushed, and they’re allowed to feel this way. But Huntlow only feels rushed in part because of Disney’s cancellation of the Owl House, but mostly because of how their relationship begins. When they first meet each other, Willow is a “captain” and Hunter is just Hunter. Luz is the one who sees most of Hunter’s unfavorable moments. His obedience to his abusive uncle and loyalty to the coven system, and every other character besides Hunter remembers when Willow was the meek and timid witch who had no voice and could barely do magic. Seeing two characters who meet after they’ve overcome so much and after they’ve discovered so much about themselves feels antithetical to most relationships in this show.

There’s also detractors specifically because of Hunter’s trauma. They don’t feel comfortable seeing him enter a relationship when he’s still unpacking Belos’ physical and emotional abuse. It’s fair, but what people don’t seem to understand is that traumatized people have partners. Victims and survivors of abuse enter relationships. If Owl House has taught anyone anything about love, it’s that love doesn’t cure, but it does change, even heal. Trauma shouldn’t prevent people from having healthy relationships, in fact, they need healthy relationships just as much as anyone else, if not more. Support helps the recovery process. Yes, the media has enforced toxic portrayals of romantic relationships, and yeah, many stories, particularly made for movies and for television, present love as this magical force that melts cold hearts and purifies dark souls. But, there is still a place in media for the representation Huntlow offers of abuse victims and their journey to recovery.

#the owl house #hunter noceda #willow park #huntlow #toh season 3 #i love them so much #why are they so cute

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softpine · 11 months ago

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ALL THE DIFFERENT GRIFFINS. IM SO. I NEED INFO. SPECIFICALLY ON GRIFFIN WITH A DAUGHTER??? DO U HAVE ANY ACTUAL THOUGHTS ABT THESE DIFFERENT AUS BC IM SO,,,,,

yesssss i would be happy to share each of the griffins lives!! i'll just run through them in order:

[major trigger warning for child abuse, attempted murder, etc. all the typical finn things]

1- inmate: he... did something... that i can't tell you yet... as a kid that got him sent to juvy for a few years. by the time he was released at 18, he had practically no life skills, no formal education, and the only people left in his life were other juvy kids. he tried to make the best of a shitty situation by changing his name, moving states, and starting over, but it wasn't long before he resorted to petty theft to make it by. his crimes escalated until he was eventually caught for armed robbery and sentenced to 25 to life. it was almost a relief to know that he wouldn't have to worry about making decisions anymore. he doesn't feel like he's ever been in charge of his own life, so being in prison is just more of the same.

2- drifter: he's still a teenager here. he successfully ran away from home as a kid, never got attacked, but instead of going to live with his aunt in new york, he's been living mostly on the road and in shelters ever since. he sticks to smaller towns, keeps a low profile, and makes a living doing odd jobs. he's safe, but lonely. asa knowing his name was a huge shock to him, because no one ever cares to ask his name.

3- kid: he hasn't hit the turning point in his life where every tiny decision can have life-altering consequences, so this is just a representation of almost every version of griffin at age 12. in this particular moment, he'd just gotten into a fight at school which he will be suspended for. i just think it's funny how he calls asa an old man lmao

4- survivor: he was obviously attacked. when he was found many days later, he was barely clinging to life. he suffered the most severe brain damage of all the versions of griffin we've seen, lost his eye, and has never quite recovered from the emotional and physical trauma. he has frequent seizures that leave him unable to work. it's rare that he even goes outside alone, so asa approaching him on the one day when he did choose to go for a walk by himself was not great timing. where this griffin differs is that he was adopted by his aunt after the attack, because his parents were actually charged with child abuse and neglect for their actions on the night of his attack (many people believe they were directly responsible, but it was never proven. they pled guilty to lesser charges to avoid an attempted murder trial). so griffin is actually in new york in that picture.

5- dad: he was attacked and left for dead, but in this universe, he was rescued within a few hours. his attacker had stabbed him in the arm with a broken beer bottle (this happened to all the versions of griffin who were attacked. it's why he wasn't able to fight back as hard). while he was being treated in the hospital, the wound got infected and his arm had to be amputated. the long healing process meant he had to rely on his parents for a ton of assistance and support. they were even more desperate to prove that they can be good parents and that they would never hurt their son, so the 3 of them all became pretty codependent. he lived at home with them until he was in his 30s, but then his dad died of a sudden heart attack (brought on by alcoholism, because he never quit drinking) and griffin realized it was time to move on. he married the daughter of one of his mom's friends, the first person he's ever dated, but their marriage dissolved a few years later for... a lot of reasons. they got a divorce before the baby was even born, but griffin tries to be the best father he possibly can be. he absolutely spoils her (you can see that based on the excessive playground equipment he bought for his yard lol) and she's his entire reason for living now, even though he only gets to see her every other week. he hopes she can stay for longer when she's older.

6- mechanic: griffin (and our finn, for that matter) was a huge nascar fan and his dream was to be a professional driver. that didn't exactly pan out for him, but he does enjoy being a mechanic. he's about 40 in that picture. he was never attacked, never ran away from home, and instead he endured the increasingly horrific abuse until he turned 18, moved out, and never talked to anyone in his family ever again. he prefers to be mostly solitary; never married, no kids, not even any friends, but he gets along with his coworkers well enough. he has an extremely hard time trusting that anyone has good intentions. in his free time, he restores & sells old furniture. his dream is to retire and move to the countryside.

7- sex worker: honestly, probably the most mentally stable griffin on this list... like don't get me wrong, he's still traumatized from the same childhood that every version of griffin shares, and i'm not saying his job is easy by any means, but he has a ton of friends who actually understand him and who he doesn't have to pretend with, he lives with his cousin liz who he's really close to, he keeps in contact with his parents but hardly ever sees them in person (which is exactly how he likes it), and he has a real sense of community. he was never attacked. he didn't run away from home when he was 12 like he planned, but instead waited until he was 14 and his parents allowed him to go live with his aunt with everyone's agreement. when liz, who is older than him, moved out to go to college, griffin followed her and they've been living together for years now. she's the only family member who knows what he does for work, so she makes sure to look out for him. oh also he's the only version of griffin we've seen that has a boyfriend?? he was supposed to say something about him in response to asa saying "i have a partner", but i cut it because i don't actually think griffin would offer that info up to a stranger, no matter how strangely trustworthy asa appears to be.

#if you only knew how many hundredsssss of versions of griffin that i could invent at the drop of a hat lmao #i don't even have to think about them they just float into my brain with no warning #bitchyybabyy400 #asks #nonsims #brandi answers

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spopsalt · 9 months ago

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Hi!!

This will be a bit more of a personal rant / ramble about spop if that's okay!

So like I was around 11 when the first season of spop came out. My sister followed Nate and was very excited for the project so we watched it, and we both really liked it!!

So each time every season came out we watched it and came up with fan theories and all that jazz! Keep in mind, we never really rewatched seasons in between. So we watched season 2, waited around half year and then watch season 3 when it came out. So we never watched season 2 again in between those months. This makes it that you forget some things, but that was alright.

I think this is the way the show is meant to be watched. It was enjoyable, we came up with theories, we came up with ships, we bonded with the characters. Season 4 was my favourite season because of all the tension and drama!!

And then well, season 5 was a bit of a letdown, but yeah sure! That's fine, y'know. I am not a shipper at all, my sister is aware at this point that her ships are never really popular so she didn't have her hopes up (she ships glimmadora). She also followed Nate so she knew that he liked c//a and stuff.

Anyways, when the show was finished, people really started watching it because of the lgbt representation. This always felt weird to me? It didn't make sense? I didn't watch Spop with the idea in mind that c//a would become canon in the end. Which made the show a whole lot easier to watch.

I also felt like.. it wasn't really the point of the show at all? There was just a kiss at the end that was about the romance the show had gotten, I didn't get it (im aromantic asexual so maybe that's why).

I have a lesbian friend (they/she) for example, who watched the show for c//a. Which is fine, they really like it and they relate to c/tra, due to trauma and stuff. It's just that it felt so.. weird talking to them about the show. Because everything about the show kinda felt like it was about c//a for them? Just like how you anti-spop blogs talk about how c//a shippers can make any scene about c//a. That's how it felt. Now I didn't really mind, but it felt odd to me.

Either way. At some point, me and my sister finally convinced my other sister to join our rewatch. Which was,, tough. Well, it was alright, in the sense that, I just focused on my favourite characters and (platonic) relationships. (Entrapta! Scorpia! Glimmer!! Adora!!! :D!!)

But the c//a kiss at the end made me physically cringe. (Literally)

I don't really have a point to make! I just believe that Spop isn't meant to be binge-watched? I feel like? I really really enjoyed my first watch, and I have very conflicted feelings about it (due to nostalgia too. dt being the first enban ive ever seen on tv?? mindblowing!!).

I like it. But also as an emotional abuse survivor, it also is just.. tough. All in all it's just, a bit, disappointing?

I guess that's it :) that's my ramble.

I'm not sure if anyone has any similar experiences, as pretty much everyone I know watched it after all seasons came out and it has risen in popularity.

Have a nice day!! Love ur blog

Awwwww thanks for your kind words, also it's ok, the ask buttons says "Rant with Me!" for that reason, I love hearing rants! But yeah, I personally was never that big of a fan, but it's good that you like it! But yeah the representation is definitely bad, the only bisexual character get in m x f ships, which is fine, ofc bisexual people don't have to date only people of the same gender, but...they never show attraction towards other people of the same gender?! The only bi characters get in m x f ships, one of them was extremely rushed, and one of them was creepy considering it looked like an adult dating a teen. Also the main couple is literally just a victim falling back into the cycle and kissing her sister who literally gave her trauma.

#anti spop #spop criticism #spop discourse #spop critical #spop crit #anti catra #anti catradora #spop salt #anti c//a #antic//a #anti glimbow #I mean not really “anti”#because it's not toxic #but it's so rushed #like Glimmer blushed at Bow once #and now they love each other?

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egotisticaleverything · 3 months ago

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As an abuse survivor I don’t really care about how bad and romanticised It Ends With Us is I mainly care about the fact that there were no trigger warnings on the box and/or movie. I picked up that book at an air port a few years ago and ignoring the quite frankly terrible writing the content really triggered me and I was surprised there was no warning from the staff or book itself when I purchased it.

I was 14 when I picked that book up unknowingly right as I got out of a physically and mentally abusive relationship and it was not a good book for me to read while in that mental space. It was advertised to me as a RomCom and “Good queer representation” when the only queer characters was a predatory gay stereotype and letters addressed to Ellen DeGeneres.

I have no idea how people who go to see the movie are going to react when they walk into what the main actor had advertised as a “movie to see with your girls” just to be shown domestic abuse both mental and physical.

#it ends with us #colleen hoover #it ends with us movie #movie #Colleen Hoover sucks for this #trigger warnings are actually needed #tw #can we normalise them?#opinion #this is an OPINION

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crip-writing-shit · 5 months ago

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More essay

did you really think I would only over analyze and project onto Doctor who? If so you have been sorely mistaken. Behold my latest creation! Roman Sanders is a surprising good representation of a sibling abuse survivor! Like to ao3 chapter here or continue reading here

head up for non specific talk of child abuse and neglect

I will be trying to write this drawing from cannon only however I have been in the Sander Sides fandom for quite some time and so not all of my characterization will be completely accurate, I am aware that Remus and Roman did not have conventional childhoods with parents as they are only metaphysical but due to the nature of humans dysfunctional sibling relationships occur within a greater family and society with all that said and done let’s get into the meat of it.

A “glass child” is a term used for a sibling of someone with higher needs than themselves and thus the glass child receives very little of the caregivers attention leading to them feeling see through like glass. Glass children most often have medically complex siblings but in cases where a child’s behavior is so dangerous or undesirable that preventing it or limiting damage takes allot of focus and effort from the adults around them the sibling will often end up being neglected, in some cases the glass child will have to assist in caring for their sibling. Roman is very clearly desperate for attention from the other sides, he wants to be praised and looked at and admired. His ego is very fragile perhaps do to his being put aside in order to deal with Remus. When guardians are trying to protect the glass child they may end up keeping things from them because “they are too young to know” or leaving them out of the conversation. We see this in Roman in the beginning of “Dark Side Of Creativity” desperately asking his fellow sides to tell him what is happening and then refusing, he is then knocked out and unconscious for the entire discussion including its resolution, and at least on screen no one thinks to clue him in as to what all happened with his brother.

Sibling abuse is often dismissed and a rivalry or spat but when one sibling has more power over the other out of age, strength or, fear it is known as abuse. Sibling abuse like any other abuse can be Mental, physical, emotional or, sexual in nature and because society doesn’t recognize most cases of sibling abuse the protections in place for abused children let victims of sibling abuse fall through the cracks. Many of sibling abuse cases are what’s called “out of parental control cases” meaning that the parent is not the abuser and cannot stop the abuse easily. These cases are a conundrum because most often putting one or both siblings into foster care would only traumatize them more and so children are forced to remain in unsafe homes, “doesn’t sound like a very fun house” as it was put. Growing up with an abusive sibling we couldn’t discuss what happened during there episodes for fear of the guilt triggering another episode and so I was left out of the loop as Roman is through the episode. Logan wasn’t seriously hurt by Remus while Roman was not only because of belief but because Remus has power over Roman, Roman is cannot be safe from his brother the way the other sides are and with that in mind who do you think Remus takes the frustration of not being able to hurt the others out on? It’s no wonder Roman is so scared of becoming like his brother, is so desperate to rip off anything he has in common with Remus, even though they are family, due to their nature they have more in common with each other than they do other sides and that fact haunts Roman.

Patton prefers Roman. Roman is praised more often in “ The Dark Side of Creativity” more often than most any other episode in the series, but most of those compliments are just because he’s not his brother. “Roman is good!” Unlike Remus “Roman is brave!” Unlike Remus “Roman’s function is important” unlike Remus’ Roman is desperate for praise and yet the strongest praise he gets is when he’s asleep and used to hurt his brother. Roman is the favorite because Remus is the least favorite.

Being abused by a sibling especially one close in age leaves you abandoned by the protections for other abused children, it leaves you isolated from you family while still carrying the burden of being “the good one” it can leave you terrified of becoming like your sibling and sets you up to continue being in abusive relationships.

#sander sides #sander sides analysis #Sander sides essay #Roman sanders #Remus sanders #actual ptsd #Ptsd #child abuse #child neglect #child abuse tw #child neglect tw #Thomas sander #thomas sanders sides #tss #sanders sides

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